LeBron Birthday Power Rankings: The best and worst seasons of King James' storied career

Every other week we bring you the greatest power rankings the world has ever seen, and this week is no different, only with a twist. This week we celebrate LeBron James’ 40th birthday in the finest of fashions.

But first an exercise. Before we rank James’ 22 seasons from worst to first, we must determine whether his current season marks the greatest age-40 season in NBA history for no other reason than we enjoy ranking things.

Only 22 players in NBA history played at age 40. Only nine of them played more than 1,000 minutes, including James, who eclipsed that mark on Saturday. And only five averaged double digits in scoring:

• LeBron James (40): 24-8-9 on 50/36/77 shooting splits

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (40): 15-6-2 on 53/0/76 shooting splits

• Karl Malone (40): 13-9-4 on 48/0/75 shooting splits

• Robert Parish (40): 12-7-1 on 49/0/74 shooting splits

• John Stockton (40): 11-3-8 on 48/36/83 shooting splits

So, yeah, it is not even a conversation. James is the greatest 40-year-old ever to play the game. That his age-40 season — the greatest age-40 season in history — ranks low on his list of greatest seasons says all you need to know about the man. He belongs on the Mount Rushmore of NBA superstars, along with Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell, and we can argue all day about what order they may fall, but first we must celebrate James with a debate all his own — the LeBron Power Rankings.

22. 2003-04 LeBron James

• Team: Cleveland Cavaliers (35-47)

• Statistics: 21-6-6 on 42/29/75 (79 games)

• Advanced: 18.3 PER, 48.8 TS%, 5.1 win shares

• Playoffs: Did not qualify

• Accolades: Rookie of the Year, top-10 MVP candidate (9th)

The most-hyped prospect in basketball history lived up to the billing. James began his inaugural NBA season with 25 points against the Sacramento Kings and finished it with a Rookie of the Year trophy. His Cavaliers missed the playoffs by a single game, but by March of his first season he was dropping 41 points and 13 assists in a victory over the two-time defending Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Nets.

James joined Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan as the only rookies to average a 20-5-5. It is because of this season, though, that we know for sure James is not merely a cyborg constructed to dominate the game of basketball. The sole sub-50% true shooting percentage of his career is the only evidence we have. Just imagine appearing on a handful of MVP ballots and it being the worst season of your career.

21. 2024-25 LeBron James

• Team: Los Angeles Lakers (17-13)

• Statistics: 23-8-9 on 50/36/77 (28 games)

• Advanced: 21.9 PER, 58.4 TS%, 2.4 win shares

• Playoffs: TBD

• Accolades: TBD

Can we talk about how strange James’ recent leave of absence from the Lakers was? One of the greatest players in the sport‘s history, who had played every game of the season to that point, walked away from his team, saying only that he was “taking some time,” and his coach had no idea when he would return.

He returned in short order, and we have all just accepted that, yeah, this is maybe how things are going to go in his age-40 season. He has earned the right to do as he pleases. Of that there is no doubt. But can you imagine if James did this in his prime? How big a story it would have been? Instead we expect him to require leaves of absence. We expect struggles. We have expected it for some time, but it has taken until now for him to lose his grip on the game. The numbers are still there; their impact has faded.

20. 2018-19 LeBron James

• Team: Los Angeles Lakers (37-45)

• Statistics: 27-9-8 on 51/34/67 (55 games)

• Advanced: 25.6 PER, 58.8 TS%, 7.2 win shares

• Playoffs: DNQ

• Accolades: All-Star, All-NBA third team, top-15 MVP candidate (11th)

On Christmas Day 2018, the Lakers held a home playoff seed, and James was arguably the leading candidate for the season’s MVP award in his first season in Los Angeles. It was then that he suffered a strained left groin, the first serious soft tissue injury of his career. It cost him more than a month.

When James returned, his young teammates had made clear they were not prepared to contend for a championship, and he publicly pined for Anthony Davis to replace them. His teammates did not take well the news that they would soon be traded. As one NBA executive told Bleacher Report at the time, “He killed the [Lakers’] chemistry.” They lost their direction, and before April, James had called it a season.

19. 2004-05 LeBron James

• Team: Cleveland Cavaliers (42-40)

• Statistics: 27-7-7 on 47/35/75 (80 games)

• Advanced: 25.7 PER, 55.4 TS%, 14.3 win shares

• Playoffs: DNQ

• Accolades: All-Star, All-NBA third team, top-15 MVP candidate (11th)

James was already carrying the game’s heftiest load in his sophomore season, leading the league in both minutes played and field goals attempted. He averaged the same statistical line — a 27-7-7 — that would become synonymous with his career. He logged his first career triple-double midway through the season and scored 56 points — a number that stood as his career high for nearly a decade — in March 2005.

“It’s weird talking about a 20-year-old kid being a great player, but he is a great player,” Hall of Famer George Karl, then coaching Carmelo Anthony in Denver, told Sports Illustrated, “and he could be the best ever.”

James did not quite dictate outcomes the way he would in seasons to come, but he did elevate the franchise above .500 for the first time in seven seasons, though Cleveland missed the playoffs by way of a tiebreaker. His best teammates were Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Drew Gooden and Jeff McInnis. It was clear that the Cavs needed more talent around James, because even if he was not the first fully formed version of himself, he was getting awfully close, and that was still good enough for his first All-Star and All-NBA selections.

18. 2021-22 LeBron James

• Team: Los Angeles Lakers (33-49)

• Statistics: 30-8-6 on 52/36/76 (56 games)

• Advanced: 26.2 PER, 61.9 TS%, 7.5 win shares

• Playoffs: DNQ

• Accolades: All-Star, All-NBA third team, top-10 MVP candidate (10th)

At the age of 37, James averaged 30 points for only the second time in his career. So how does a team featuring him and Davis win only 33 games? Injuries, for one. James suffered from a strained abdominal, a sore left knee and a sprained left ankle, more signs that his body was no longer imperceptible to injury.

Another reason for the Lakers’ failure this season? Their trade for Russell Westbrook, which James lobbied for (and took credit for). It hamstrung the roster from a salary cap standpoint and on the court, where the offensive spacing and defensive acumen that made the Lakers a contender were all but gone. Their head coach, Frank Vogel, took the blame, though everyone understood he was their scapegoat.

17. 2020-21 LeBron James

• Team: Los Angeles Lakers (42-30)

• Statistics: 30-8-6 on 52/36/76 (45 games)

• Advanced: 24.2 PER, 60.2 TS%, 5.6 win shares

• Playoffs: 23-7-8 on 47/38/61 (6 games; lost to Suns, 4-2, in Round 1)

• Accolades: All-Star, All-NBA second team, top-15 MVP candidate (13th)

Again James got the Lakers off to a hot start. Again he was a leading MVP candidate. And again he suffered an injury, this time a high ankle sprain, that for the first time raised questions about his future. We had to wonder if he was entering a different phase of his career, one in which his body would fail him.

Or maybe those signs of slowing down were the result of an abbreviated offseason — a two-month break from the Lakers’ bubble championship to their title defense — that left an aging James no time to rest.

Two things became apparent as this season wore on. James was no longer fully committed on defense, as he attempted to preserve his physical fitness. He “picked his spots,” code for finding time to rest on one end of the floor. And he could not flip a switch when the playoffs arrived. There was no longer an extra gear — for the Lakers or LeBron. Part was injury, part was age; all of it was the ceiling caving in on James.

16. 2023-24 LeBron James

• Team: Los Angeles Lakers (47-35)

• Statistics: 29-8-7 on 50/32/77 (71 games)

• Advanced: 23.7 PER, 63.0 TS%, 8.5 win shares

• Playoffs: 28-7-9 on 57/39/74 (5 games; lost to Nuggets, 4-1, in Round 1)

• Accolades: All-Star, All-NBA third team

It is weird to consider this Lakers season a failure once you have looked at it in larger context. James and Davis both played more than 70 games and made All-NBA teams. They won 47 games in a loaded West and lost in the first round of the playoffs to a Nuggets team that boasted Nikola Jokić, who had long since surpassed James as the game’s best active player. This had become the natural order of things.

Only the Lakers and their fans had not yet realized what was clear to the rest of the league: This is a four-year track record of their team no longer being a contender and the face of their franchise no longer being able to carry one. They just had not seen it from a healthy James yet. Gone at the end of this season was any notion that injuries or personnel were to blame, though the Lakers still fired their coach (Darvin Ham).

15. 2022-23 LeBron James

• Team: Los Angeles Lakers (43-39)

• Statistics: 26-7-8 on 54/41/75 (55 games)

• Advanced: 23.9 PER, 58.3 TS%, 5.6 win shares

• Playoffs: 25-10-7 on 50/26/76 (16 games; lost to Nuggets, 4-0, in WCF)

• Accolades: All-Star, All-NBA third team

James’ last gasp as a paradigm-shifting performer. He missed another 27 games to injury but left his mark on the floor. The Lakers rid themselves of Westbrook and regrouped around a rotation that made more sense, riding that high to the Western Conference finals, where they were swept by Jokić and Co.

Again: Can you imagine if the Lakers repeated this feat this season? What praise first-year head coach JJ Redick would receive? This was Ham’s first season on the job. We should be applauding him for getting them as far as they went. Instead all it accomplished was convincing LeBron and the Lakers that they were still within arm’s reach of the NBA’s mountaintop when in fact they were fading from view.

14. 2005-06 LeBron James

• Team: Cleveland Cavaliers (50-32)

• Statistics: 31-7-7 on 48/34/74 (79 games)

• Advanced: 28.1 PER, 56.8 TS%, 16.3 win shares

• Playoffs: 31-8-6 on 48/33/74 (13 games; lost to Pistons, 4-3, in second round)

• Accolades: All-Star, All-NBA first team, top-5 MVP candidate (2nd)

There was no longer any denial that James would become one of the game’s all-time greats because he was well on his way at age 20, finishing second to Steve Nash in the MVP voting. He scored 29 points and captured MVP honors in an All-Star Game that featured Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O’Neal, Dirk Nowitzki, Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Jason Kidd and Paul Pierce.

James was officially the face of a team that could win 50 games and capture a home playoff seed when Larry Hughes was his best teammate. He registered his first career playoff triple-double in his first career playoff game — a 32-11-11 against Gilbert Arenas’ Washington Wizards — and gave the two-time defending Eastern Conference champion Detroit Pistons all they could handle in the second round.

13. 2009-10 LeBron James

• Team: Cleveland Cavaliers (61-21)

• Statistics: 30-7-9 on 50/33/77 (76 games)

• Advanced: 31.1 PER, 60.4 TS%, 18.5 win shares

• Playoffs: 29-9-8 on 50/40/73 (11 games; lost to Celtics, 4-2, in second round)

• Accolades: All-Star, All-NBA first team, MVP, top-5 DPOY candidate (4th)

It is flatly insane that James won the MVP and finished top-five for Defensive Player of the Year, leading the Cavs to 61 wins and the league’s top playoff seed, and this is his 13th-best season, but here we are.

Cleveland met the Celtics in the second round, and in a pivotal Game 5 James was nowhere to be found, getting booed off his home floor. A sore elbow served as an excuse, but by the end of Game 6 James had removed his Cavaliers jersey before he even got to the losers’ tunnel. What was speculated about all season came into fuller view: James had quit on the Cavaliers, and The Decision would soon confirm it.

12. 2007-08 LeBron James

• Team: Cleveland Cavaliers (45-37)

• Statistics: 30-8-7 on 48/32/71 (75 games)

• Advanced: 29.1 PER, 56.8 TS%, 15.2 win shares

• Playoffs: 28-8-8 on 41/26/73 (13 games; lost to Celtics, 4-3, in second round)

• Accolades: All-Star, All-NBA first team, top-5 MVP candidate (4th)

A season removed from their first NBA Finals appearance, James and his Cavaliers took a step back in 2007-08, winning 45 games and finishing fourth in the East. James was far from the reason to blame. He captured his one and only scoring title, averaging 30 points per game, and led the league in almost every advanced statistical category, something he would become accustomed to throughout his prime.

It was not enough to finish higher than fourth for MVP behind Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul and Kevin Garnett. And it was not enough to topple Garnett’s Celtics in the second round of the playoffs, where Paul Pierce out-dueled James in a Game 7 thriller. The 23-year-old was still little brother to the NBA’s veteran stars.

11. 2010-11 LeBron James

• Team: Miami Heat (58-24)

• Statistics: 27-8-7 on 51/33/76 (79 games)

• Advanced: 27.3 PER, 59.4 TS%, 15.6 win shares

• Playoffs: 24-8-6 on 47/35/76 (21 games; lost to Mavericks, 4-2, in NBA Finals)

• Accolades: All-Star, All-NBA first team, top-5 MVP candidate (3rd), top-10 DPOY candidate (9th)

James spent his first season on “The Heatles” as the NBA’s villain, declaring he would win “not five, not six, not seven” but an indeterminate number of championships. And he looked to be on his way, finishing both top-five for MVP and top-10 for Defensive Player of the Year for a third consecutive season. In a league that had crowned the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant as champion in its previous two seasons, James was the dominant force.

And Miami reached the NBA Finals. It is there that James vanished against the Dallas Mavericks. He infamously could not take advantage of a 5-foot-10 J.J. Barea in the post, and it was obvious for one final time that nobody was going to give James a championship. Nor was anyone going to carry him to one.

10. 2014-15 LeBron James

• Team: Cleveland Cavaliers (53-29)

• Statistics: 25-6-7 on 49/35/71 (69 games)

• Advanced: 25.9 PER, 57.7 TS%, 10.4 win shares

• Playoffs: 30-11-9 on 42/23/73 (20 games; lost to Warriors, 4-2, in NBA Finals)

• Accolades: All-Star, All-NBA first team, top-5 MVP candidate (3rd), top-15 DPOY candidate (13th)

James returned to Cleveland, and for that he was given everything he wanted — a new coach, a new co-star, Kyrie Irving, and a trade for Kevin Love. He swapped an aging supporting cast in Miami for a young, hungry one in his home state, and there were some growing pains. James took a two-week sabbatical from the team to rest his back, which was tired from carrying his teammates, so he subtweeted Love.

Publicly revealing a rift did nothing to curb Cleveland’s odds in the East, where James won the conference for a fifth straight season. He might have challenged the Golden State Warriors in the Finals had Love and Irving not both been injured, but there is only so much that even prime LeBron can win on his own.

9. 2006-07 LeBron James

• Team: Cleveland Cavaliers (50-32)

• Statistics: 27-7-6 on 48/32/70 (78 games)

• Advanced: 24.5 PER, 55.2 TS%, 13.7 win shares

• Playoffs: 25-8-8 on 42/28/76, (20 games; lost to Spurs, 4-0, in NBA Finals)

• Accolades: All-Star, All-NBA second team, top-5 MVP candidate (5th)

Another top-five MVP candidacy from James. Another 50-win season for his Cavaliers. And this time their first appearance in the NBA Finals. But first a series with the Pistons and another pivotal Game 5. In this one he submitted one of the great playoff performances in league history, totaling 48 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. He scored 29 of his team’s final 30 points, including 25 straight at one point, to win in double-overtime, 109-107. He cruised to a Game 6 victory and his first of 10 conference titles.

The San Antonio Spurs had an answer in the Finals, daring James to beat them from the perimeter. He could not. His jump shot had not developed at the same rate as the rest of his game, and that weakness — maybe his only one at the age of 23 — was glaring enough that the Spurs swept him from the series.

8. 2013-14 LeBron James

• Team: Miami Heat (54-28)

• Statistics: 27-7-6 on 57/38/75 (77 games)

• Advanced: 29.3 PER, 64.9 TS%, 15.9 win shares

• Playoffs: 27-7-5 on 57/41/81 (20 games; lost to Spurs, 4-1, in NBA Finals)

• Accolades: All-Star, All-NBA first team, top-5 MVP candidate (2nd), top-10 DPOY candidate (6th)

James’ run in Miami was coming to an end. He was still at the peak of his powers — a candidate for both MVP and Defensive Player of the Year — but the Heat were not. His supporting cast had grown older and was too often injured. He could still storm his way through the East, but he was not enough on his own to combat the Spurs, who were playing some of the best hoops we have ever seen and won in five games.

It is here where we should ask whether James’ Miami tenure was the success it could have been. On the surface, he made the Finals each season, winning twice, and by any measure that is a success. But by the Heat’s own expectations — “not one, not two …” — and with one of the game’s three best players ever, surrounded by two All-NBA talents, plus a cast of capable veterans, they fell short of their goals.

7. 2016-17 LeBron James

• Team: Cleveland Cavaliers (51-31)

• Statistics: 26-9-9 on 55/36/67 (74 games)

• Advanced: 27 PER, 61.9 TS%, 12.9 win shares

• Playoffs: 33-9-8 on 57/41/70 (18 games; lost to Warriors, 4-1, in NBA Finals)

• Accolades: All-Star, All-NBA first team, top-5 MVP candidate (4th), top-5 DPOY candidate (5th)

In Cleveland’s title defense, James was spectacular, even as he publicly criticized the front office for building a roster that was, in his words, “top heavy as s***.” Another top-five MVP finish. Another top-five Defensive Player of the Year finish. His Cavaliers were an offensive juggernaut when healthy. They just could not keep pace with the Warriors, and who could? They are arguably the greatest team of all time.

It was not until the end of the 2016-17 season when Irving pulled at the thread that was their unraveling. Irving no longer wanted on the Cavaliers, playing in James’ shadow, and he reportedly went days in the playoffs without speaking to teammates. (Not that it would have mattered; Golden State was a wagon.)

6. 2019-20 LeBron James

• Team: Los Angeles Lakers (52-19; NBA champions)

• Statistics: 25-8-10 on 49/35/69 (67 games)

• Advanced: 25.5 PER, 57.7 TS%, 9.8 win shares

• Playoffs: 28-11-9 on 56/37/72 (21 games; defeated Heat, 4-2, in NBA Finals)

• Accolades: All-Star, All-NBA first team, top-5 MVP candidate (2nd)

When the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the 2019-20 season, James’ Lakers held a five-game lead in the Western Conference. And when the league reconvened in Orlando four months later, James & Co. rolled to the title, never really facing a serious challenge. James was a man on a mission, averaging a 30-12-9 on 59/42/67 shooting splits in the NBA Finals, becoming the first player to win Finals MVP for three teams.

Whether the hiatus helped a 35-year-old James and his oft-injured co-star does not really matter. James delivered a title for Los Angeles, and for that Lakers fans must respect him, even if there was no parade.

5. 2008-09 LeBron James

• Team: Cleveland Cavaliers (66-16)

• Statistics: 28-8-7 on 49/34/78 (81 games)

• Advanced: 31.7 PER, 59.1 TS%, 20.3 win shares

• Playoffs: 35-9-7 on 51/33/75 (14 games; lost to Magic, 4-2, in the ECF)

• Accolades: All-Star, All-NBA first team, MVP, top-5 DPOY candidate (2nd)

This season remains baffling. James was a monster. At 24 years old he led a 66-win team — the No. 1 overall seed in the playoffs — in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, playing all but one game of the regular season. He scored 50 points on three occasions and eclipsed 40 points another nine times.

Cleveland swept the Pistons and Hawks from the first two rounds of the playoffs, and then came the Magic. James dropped a 49-6-8 in Game 1 and lost. He needed a game-winner to even the series at 1-1. And he lost the series in six games, despite averaging a 39-8-8. So LeBron James, in his prime, on a 66-win team, opposite Dwight Howard, lost, robbing us of a Finals showdown with Bryant. Inexplicable.

4. 2017-18 LeBron James

• Team: Cleveland Cavaliers (50-32)

• Statistics: 28-9-9 on 54/37/73 (82 games)

• Advanced: 28.6 PER, 62.1 TS%, 14 win shares

• Playoffs: 34-9-9 on 54/34/75 (22 games; lost to Warriors, 4-0, in NBA Finals)

• Accolades: All-Star, All-NBA first team, top-15 MVP candidate (11th)

After Irving’s exit from Cleveland, James was surrounded by a hodgepodge of talented players, none of whom seemed all that interested in playing together. James was going to have to do it by himself — and nearly did, surviving a pair of seven-game series to emerge from the East for an eighth straight season.

Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals may have been James’ finest performance. He totaled 51 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in 47 minutes. If not for the end of regulation — a George Hill missed free throw and a J.R. Smith brain fart — James might have stolen the opener and changed the series against one of the game’s greatest teams. As it were, the Warriors won in overtime and swept the series.

3. 2011-12 LeBron James

• Team: Miami Heat (46-20, NBA champions)

• Statistics: 27-8-6 on 53/36/77 (62 games)

• Advanced: 30.7 PER, 60.5 TS%, 14.5 win shares

• Playoffs: 30-10-6 on 50/26/74 (23 games; defeated Thunder, 4-1, in NBA Finals)

• Accolades: All-Star, All-NBA first team, MVP, top-5 DPOY candidate (4th)

A lockout-shortened season. And an absolute a**-kicking from start to finish. Motivated by his lackluster effort in the 2011 NBA Finals, James arrived with renewed focus. Nothing would stop him from his first championship, and no one could deny his status as the game’s most valuable player — superteam or not.

Then came Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals against his rival Celtics. James harnessed all his skill and determination into a night of undeniable greatness. He totaled 45 points (on 26 shots), 15 rebounds and five assists, tying the series, 3-3, before disposing of Boston in Game 7. James then defeated Kevin Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder to win his first ring, shedding the world’s weight from his shoulders.

2. 2015-16 LeBron James

• Team: Cleveland Cavaliers (57-25, NBA champions)

• Statistics: 27-7-7 on 47/35/75 (80 games)

• Advanced: 27.5 PER, 58.8 TS%, 13.6 win shares

• Playoffs: 26-10-8 on 53/34/66 (21 games; defeated Warriors, 4-3, in NBA Finals)

• Accolades: All-Star, All-NBA first team, top-5 MVP candidate (3rd), top-15 DPOY candidate (11th)

The season that stamped James as all but peerless in NBA history. We might as well have entered his season averages — a 27-7-7 on 47/35/75 shooting splits — into Basketball Reference before the season began. He was programmed to put up those numbers by this point. He was not quite the unparalleled athlete that he was at age 27, but by 31 he had essentially solved the game from a mental standpoint.

Case in point: The 2016 NBA Finals. Trailing the 73-win Warriors 3-1 in the championship series, James went on a tear that will be remembered forever. With Irving meeting him on another level, James put together back-to-back 41-point outings to even the series. He dropped a triple-double in Game 7, but it was his chase-down block of Andre Iguodala — the signature highlight of his career — that sealed the deal. LeBron James delivered Cleveland its first championship against the greatest regular-season team ever, becoming the first player to lead his team back from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals. Storybook stuff.

1. 2012-13 LeBron James

• Team: Miami Heat (66-16, NBA champions)

• Statistics: 27-8-7 on 57/41/75 (76 games)

• Advanced: 31.6 PER, 64 TS%, 19.3 win shares

• Playoffs: 26-8-7 on 49/38/78 (23 games; defeated Spurs, 4-3, in NBA Finals)

• Accolades: All-Star, All-NBA first team, MVP, top-5 DPOY candidate (2nd)

What a season. Armed with the experience of winning a title, James was on a mission for another, and the Heat followed his lead. They won 27 consecutive games over two months on their way to 66 for the regular season. James averaged a 27-8-8 on 58% shooting on the winning streak. It was a masterclass. He won his fourth MVP in five seasons and probably should have been the Defensive Player of the Year.

Lost to Ray Allen’s series-saving 3-pointer was James’ performance in Games 6 and 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals. There is no series to save without him. He finished Game 6 with a triple-double and added 37 points in Game 7, beating a beloved San Antonio Spurs team in legendary fashion. He was a back-to-back champion and a certified all-timer at the peak of his powers. Put 2013 LeBron James up against anyone.